Romney admits he 'misspoke' over poor Americans

Mitt Romney admitted Friday he "misspoke" in an ill-advised comment about poor Americans, as polls predicted a huge victory for the Republican White House hopeful in Nevada's presidential vote. Romney is aiming for a third win over his main rival, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, as the two wrestle to be the Republican Party's challenger in the November elections against Democratic President Barack Obama. After triumphs in New Hampshire and Florida, Romney has cemented his position at the front of the pack and a new poll predicted he would win big by a 50-25 percent margin over Gingrich in Saturday's caucuses in Nevada. But a series of gaffes has also dented his image and led to accusations that he is out of touch with ordinary voters, after the multi-millionaire said this week he was "not concerned about poor Americans" who he said have a safety net. "I misspoke, plain and simple," Romney acknowledged to CNN on Friday. "What I said is my focus, my primary focus, is on helping people get in the middle class and grow the middle class." But Gingrich renewed his attacks on Romney for the gaffe Friday in an eve-of-caucus rally in Las Vegas. "Governor Romney is trying to recover from his boo boo," he said to laughter and whoops from supporters in a spit-and-sawdust music bar in the desert gambling city. The media "did exactly what Obama would do this fall, and kept replaying 'Oh, I don't really care about the poor,' Which is not a very clever thing for someone who is very wealthy to say," Gingrich said. "I mean, talk about (an) example of what we don't want in a general election candidate," he said, scathingly. The former Massachusetts governor has also raised eyebrows after he released tax filings showing he earned $20 million from his investments in 2010 and paid just 13.9 percent in taxes -- a lower rate than many struggling Americans. News Friday that the January jobs report had exceeded expectations adding 243,000 net jobs with the US jobless rate now down to 8.3 percent -- a nearly a three-year low -- could give Obama a welcome boost if the trend continues. The economy is arguably Obama's greatest political weakness as he fights for another term in the White House while the world's top economy struggles to recover from recession. Romney welcomed the jump in new jobs, but charged that Obama had "prevented a true economic recovery." "Unfortunately, these numbers cannot hide the fact that President Obama's policies have prevented a true economic recovery. We can do better," said the multi-millionaire investor. The Republican candidate has acknowledged that Obama inherited an economic crisis when he took office in January 2009, but charges on the campaign trail that the Democratic incumbent's policies have hurt, not helped, the recovery. Romney was always looking the odds-on favorite in Nevada because its Mormon population -- a faith he shares -- is heavily represented in the Republican caucuses. But Public Policy Polling (PPP) found he was also winning over voters among those who described themselves as "very conservative" -- a group which has been wary of his past moderate leanings. The survey of 937 likely Republican caucus voters in Nevada taken on Wednesday and Thursday found Romney way out front on 50 percent, Gingrich on 25 percent, congressman Ron Paul on 15 percent and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum trailing badly on eight percent. "Mitt Romney is headed for a big win in Nevada on Saturday," said Dean Debnam, president of PPP. "The main suspense looks like it will be whether he can crack the 50 percent mark. He’s winning with virtually every demographic group we track." On Thursday, Romney also won the endorsement of real estate mogul and celebrity TV star Donald Trump, who briefly flirted with a presidential run last year. Romney, 64, came second in the first Republican contest in Iowa, then swept the second contest in New Hampshire before Gingrich, 68, thumped him South Carolina in mid-January. Gingrich's support, however, sank fast in the larger and more diverse state of Florida, and Romney now has all the momentum.